UCLA defense 'excited' about chance to face one-time Bruins commit Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

In the season opener, UCLA faced Hawaii senior quarterback Brayden Schager, who now has eight touchdown passes through four games. The Bruins next went up against Indiana signal caller Kurtis Rourke, a sixth-year Ohio University graduate transfer who earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors while throwing for 300-plus yards and four touchdowns. Then UCLA made the trip to “Death Valley,” where it saw Garrett Nussmeier, who turned in a 300-yard passing game of his own, not to mention a trio of touchdown passes.

Now, UCLA’s welcoming in No. 8 Oregon to the Rose Bowl, and that means the latest potent quarterback the 1-2 Bruins have to deal with is two-time transfer and 2024 Heisman Trophy hopeful Dillon Gabriel.

“It’s almost like they’re just getting us ready for the next guy,” Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster said Wednesday, when he was asked about the talented line of quarterbacks his team has had to play so far.

“So just we got to be able to find a way to get to the quarterback. That’s the No. 1 thing. I think the defense is excited about this opportunity, especially [to face] a guy that almost came here. So I think guys are just fired up. It’s [wide receiver] Titus [Mokiao-Atimalala‘s] friend, so he probably wants to really get this victory. He’s a good quarterback, lefty. … Hopefully we can slow him down.”

What Foster alluded to Wednesday is Gabriel’s initial decision to transfer to UCLA from UCF ahead of the 2022 season. Gabriel made that decision public, but 18 days later reversed course and pledged to Oklahoma, where he started at quarterback the next two seasons.

Because Gabriel wasn’t enrolled at UCLA yet, he was able to change his mind and instead continue his career in Norman with the Sooners — doing so reunited him with Jeff Lebby, at the time Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who previously coached Gabriel at UCF.

Gabriel announced his transfer to Oklahoma the same day then-Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams hit the portal. Williams, of course, ended up at USC, where he won the Heisman Trophy with former Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley in 2022.

UCLA, meanwhile, returned Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who starred in 2022 before becoming a fifth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns.

“It’s the nature of the game,” Foster said, when asked about Gabriel almost coming to UCLA. “But I’m really glad that Dorian did come back, because that SC game that he had was amazing (Thompson-Robinson piled up 390 total yards and six total touchdowns in a valiant defeat).

“He’s a great player, and he’s continuing to play well in the NFL. But it’s just the nature of the game right now. You can go to multiple schools. If you don’t like something, you can go to another place. And that’s just how it is.”

UCLA’s starting a veteran of its own this year in Ethan Garbers, who is coming off his best game of the season: He completed 22-of-36 passes for 281 yards, two touchdowns and a pick last weekend at LSU. Garbers will try to go toe-to-toe with Gabriel, a one-time Bruins commit, Saturday in the Rose Bowl.

And so will the UCLA defense.